Viral photo shows a Yemeni man with his daughter just before her burial -- and he was not seeking funds

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 10, 2020 at 09:44
Updated on January 13, 2020 at 08:17
3 min read
By Mayowa TIJANI, AFP Nigeria

A viral photograph of a small girl and a crying man has been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook claiming to show a father in need of more than $70,000 for his daughter’s surgery. The claim is false; the picture has been circulating on social media alongside varying claims, but it actually shows a Yemeni man carrying his daughter after she was killed in an airstrike.

(AFP has obscured the image but clicking on the links in this blog post will show the original photograph)

The image, archived here, has been shared more than 101,000 times on Facebook since it was posted in April 2019. It was shared as a screenshot with text, claiming that the man “desperately needs 50 lacs rupees for his daughter’s operation (sic)”. The post also claims that each share of the photo will bring one rupee to the man in the picture. The same picture has been shared elsewhere on Facebook.

The post, which has been viewed at least 7.2 million times, according to Facebook’s AFP claim review, is spreading particularly in Nigeria and Mauritius, with some Nigerians, who believe the post to be true, using the comments section to pray for the girl’s healing.

A screenshot taken on January 10, 2020, showing the misleading Facebook post

The Claim is false: The girl died in July 2015

The same picture has been used in other false and misleading contexts -- one of which had been fact-checked by AFP in 2019. It was claimed then that the girl needed surgery after getting an iron rod stuck in her eye. This, too, was false.

AFP ran a fresh Google reverse image search to find the source of the picture in question and the identity of those in shot. Numerous websites and blogs, including a blogpost by Yemen War Crimes, described how the girl was killed on July 3, 2015 in airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition in Western Al-Jeraf in Al-Thawra district.

Arabian Rights Watch Association (ARWA) corroborated the blogpost, stating that the people in the picture are Ibrahim Abdulkareem and his daughter Zainab. His story has been reported by multiple international media organisations, by American broadcaster PRI, The Guardian and Huffington Post.

Ibrahim Abdulkareem at a hearing for victims of the Coalition in Sanaa, Yemen, April 26, 2016. (Al Masirah/Ameen AlShami)

We also found that the picture was first shared by Abdulkareem on his Facebook account, with an Arabic-language caption, translated to English as:

“O God, accept our sacrifice, O God. The last picture with my martyr daughter Zainab – in the refrigerator of the 'revolution hospital' in Sana'a. She was killed by Saudi Arabia-led coalition airforces.”

He also published this Facebook post to say he is not seeking funds for any treatment, calling on those using his “martyred daughter” for monetary gains to “fear God”.

He had previously shared a story -- on July 6, 2015 -- stating how his daughter was killed by the Saudi-led strikes. He has since been seeking justice for his daughter.

The Saudi-led coalition of about nine Arab countries led a military campaign against Houthi forces in Yemen, with some support from the United States. According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the attacks have led to the deaths of many civilians.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail